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East Wenatchee, Washington
East Wenatchee is a city in Douglas County, Washington, United States, along the northern banks of the Columbia River. The population at the 2010 census was 13,190, a 129.1% increase on the 2000 census. On November 10, 2002, East Wenatchee was designated a principal city of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area by the Office of Management and Budget.[5] History http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Wenatchee,_Washington&action=edit&section=1 edit At the turn of the 20th Century, irrigation projects, including the Columbia Basin Project east of the region, opened the door for farming the barren land. Orchards become the area's leading industry. In 1908, the first highway bridge to span the Columbia River opened. The privately owned bridge carried people, horses, wagons, and automobiles; it also supported two large water pipelines along its sides. It connected Chelan County on the Wenatchee shore with Douglas County on East Wenatchee shore. The bridge opened East Wenatchee and the rest of Douglas County to apple orchard development. Still standing today, the bridge is a 1,060-foot (320 m) pinconnected steel cantilever bridge and cost $177,000 to build. It once carried Sunset Highway (State Highway 2) across the river. The bridge was the brainchild of W. T. Clark, one of the builders of the Highline Canal, a major irrigation project to water the apple orchards in the valley. It was financed in part by James J. Hill (1838–1916), of the Great Northern Railway (which arrived in Wenatchee in 1892). In its second year of operation the canal firm that owned it decided to start charging tolls. This prompted local leaders to hasten to the state legislature to persuade the state to purchase the bridge as part of the state highway system. The state purchased the bridge despite the state-employed consultant's opinion "that the ugliness of the structure is very apparent" (Dorpat), despite defects in the timber floor and concrete piers, and despite leaks in the waterpipes. The structure remained in full use until 1950 when the George Sellar bridge was built. Today, it remains as a footbridge and still has the old pipeline running across it. From its foundation in agriculture, the region's economy has diversified to include year-round tourism and a variety of other industries. Founding http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Wenatchee,_Washington&action=edit&section=2 edit On February 28, 1935, citizens voted, 48 in favor and 46 against, to incorporate the town of East Wenatchee.[6] When the town was incorporated on March 11, 1935, the original town site was 50 acres (200,000 m2). Today, the town has grown into a city. As of 2007, East Wenatchee's boundaries encompassed 3.67 square miles (9.5 km2). Major events http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Wenatchee,_Washington&action=edit&section=3 edit On October 5, 1931, East Wenatchee became part of aviation history. Having taken off from Misawa, Japan, pilots Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. safely belly-landed their Bellanca airplane Miss Veedol on a nearby airstrip known then as Fancher Field. After take off, the pilots intentionally jettisoned the landing gear to conserve fuel. This flight was the first nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean. In honor of this pioneering flight, East Wenatchee's airport is called Pangborn Memorial Airport, and the Pangborn-Herndon Memorial Site, listedNational Register of Historic Places, is nearby. On May 27, 1987, East Wenatchee became part of archaeological history. On that date, while digging in an orchard just east of the city, farmworkers accidentally discovered a cache of 11,000-year-old Clovis points and other artifacts, left by Pleistocene hunters some 11,000 years earlier. The East Wenatchee Clovis Site, explored in two subsequent MPHarchaeological digs in 1988 and 1990, was closed to science by the landowner after protests by local Native American tribes. On January 8, 2007, East Wenatchee had a devastating wind storm with 100MPH plus winds this storm caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to homes, businesses, and city parks many people went without power for days and even weeks. The legal moratorium on new archaeological work at the site ended on June 1, 2007. Sports 'Defunct teams' Education